South central Laos Travel Video Guide

South central Laos Travel Itinerary

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Many travellers see very little of south central Laos , spending just a night or two in the town of Savannakhet before pressing on to the far south or crossing the border into Vietnam. The two principal settlements of south central Laos - Thakhek and Savannakhet - both lie on the Mekong River, and both offer straightforward border crossings into Thailand . Not all that interesting in itself, Thakhek is within day-tripping distance of some awesome limestone tunnels and caverns. Savannakhet has been described as southern Laos's equivalent of Louang Phabang, its inhabitants living comfortably among the architectural heirlooms handed down by the French, and is certainly a pleasant enough place. East from Savannakhet, Route 9 climbs steadily and eventually bisects another route of more recent vintage: the Ho Chi Minh Trail . Actually a series of

parallel roads and paths, the trail was used by the North Vietnamese Army to infiltrate and finally subdue its southern neighbour. The area is still littered with lots of war junk, some of it highly dangerous. The safest way to view these rusting relics is to use the town of Xepon as a base. Journeying further east leads to the Vietnam border crossing at Daen Sawan, popularly known as "Lao Bao". There's a less frequently used crossing into Vietnam on Route 8, at Cau Treo.

Your Tips For South central Laos

• Louang Phabang Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Nestling in a slim valley shaped by lofty, green mountains and cut by the swift Mekong and Khan rivers, LOUANG PHABANG exudes remote tranquillity and casual grandeur. - Laos
  

• Far north Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Decades of war and neglect have done their part to keep this isolated region in far northern Laos from developing and have unwittingly preserved a way of life that has virtually vanished in neighbouring countries. - Laos
  

• Northeast Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Difficult to reach and short on proper tourist sites, the remote northeast is one of the least-visited parts of Laos. - Laos
  

• South central Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Many travellers see very little of south central Laos , spending just a night or two in the town of Savannakhet before pressing on to the far south or crossing the border into Vietnam. - Laos
  

• Vientiane Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Hugging a bend of the Mekong River, the low-rise capital of Laos is a quaint and easygoing place compared to Southeast Asia's other frenetic capitals, looking more like a rambling collection of villages than a city. - Laos
  

• Vang Viang Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Travelling by road from Vientiane to Louang Phabang takes you through the spectacular limestone karst forest of VANG VIANG , 155km north of the capital, which, with its beautiful caves and nearby ethnic minority villages, makes an ideal point for a stopover. - Laos
  

• Lao Pako Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  LAO PAKO , an environmentally friendly resort on the Nam Ngum River, 50km northeast of Vientiane, makes a good trip out of the capital. - Laos
  

• Far south Laos Travel Videos
  Laos Travel Itinerary
  Bordered by Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the far south conveniently divides into two regions, with Pakxe , the most important market town and the access point for the Chong Mek border crossing into Thailand , as the hub. - Laos